Business
VMS Drilling Update
East Star Resources Plc has announced drilling results from its Verkhuba Copper Deposit, confirming deep zinc-copper mineralization and a shallow northern extension. Notably, drill hole VU_25_DD_009 intersected 17.90m at 0.66% Zn and 0.10% Cu from 307m, and another interval of 1.00m at 0.81% Cu and 0.03% Zn from 75.5m. The company also identified a fault cutting the ore body and plans further drilling and a ground EM survey in 2026 as part of a joint venture with Hong Kong Xinhai Mining Services Limited to refine the deposit model and advance towards development. Disclaimer*
About this update from East Star Resources Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n31 December 2025\n \nEast Star Resources Plc\n \n(\"East Star\" or the \"Company\")\n \nVMS Drilling Update\n \nResults from Verkhuba Confirm Deep Mineralisation \n \nEast Star Resources Plc (LSE:EST), the Kazakhstan-focused gold and base metals explorer, is pleased to provide an update on drilling activities which have been completed at the Verkhuba Copper Deposit (\"Verkhuba\"). Drilling aimed to test two important components of Verkhuba: deep resources defined by only historical drilling and shallow areas outside of the 2024 resource model.\n \nHighlights\n \n\n\n\n\n· \n\n\nDeep intervals of Zn-Cu mineralisation intersected\n\n\n\n\n· \n\n\nShallow extension of mineralisation to the north\n\n\n\n\n· \n\n\nConfirm area of study for 2026 in JV with Hong Kong Xinhai Mining Services Limited (\"Xinhai\")\n\n\n\n\n \nAlex Walker, East Star CEO, commented:\n \n\"This drill programme was designed to test large distances between drill holes in the deeper part of the resource and a potential northern extension to the shallower part of the resource in the southwest. We intersected mineralisation at depth and an additional shallower ore lens, while also finding a continuation of the shallow mineralisation to the north. These are important results for the future study work at Verkhuba and have helped us to confirm the area of study for 2026 with Xinhai, who are farming into the project. These advances at Verkhuba will refine the deposit model and continue moving it closer to development. Lenses and stringer veinlets of sulphides logged in the core provide further evidence of massive sulphides at Verkhuba and we plan to test this in 2026 along with drilling the shallower resources with Xinhai to inform the feasibility study and mining licence application.\"\n \nDeep Resource Confirmation\n \nThree drill holes tested the deep resources (Figure 1). The holes intersected significant intervals of deeper Zn-Pb and Cu mineralisation. The mineralisation occurs within the major volcaniclastic unit as stringers and lenses of sulphide mineralisation (Figure 2). The drill holes infilled the drill spacing in the central deep ore body to ~120m (from ~200 - 250m spacing). Notably, additional shallow mineralisation was noted in drill hole ...